Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.

2,215,138 Total Complaints

138,663 Reported Crashes

56,255 Reported Fires

8,561 Reported Deaths

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.

The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.

How to interpret what you read

A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:

One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.

If you've experienced a defect

File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.

Read more from our blog

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 40,517 complaints — component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Incident date: Dec 12, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the engine was misfiring, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that he drove to the residence. The contact stated that he used an OBD reader and retrieved DTC code: P0304 (Cylinder #4 Misfire). The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. ... Read more

Incident date: Sep 22, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the check engine and engine power reduced warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated pulled off the roadway and stopped the vehicle. The contact turned off the vehicle and on several occasions the vehicle regained normal functionality. The contact stated that the fa... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-65 MPH, the vehicle decelerated unintendedly. In addition, while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, there was an abnormal clicking noise coming from the steering column. Most recently, while driving at unknown speeds, the brake pedal required excessive force to bring the vehicle to a st... Read more

Incident date: Nov 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and was unable to accelerate above 70 MPH. The contact was able to pull the vehicle to the shoulder of the road, where the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to restart, but the failure persisted. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechani... Read more

Incident date: Aug 2, 2023

The contact owns 2019 BMW 430I. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, he noticed coolant was leaking underneath the vehicle onto the ground. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the message that the coolant level was low was displayed and the vehicle was overheating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer diagnosed that the vehicle wit... Read more

Incident date: Oct 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle and while driving at various speeds, there was a grinding and rattling sound coming from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rattling was coming from the cam phaser. The independent mechanic related the failure to NHT... Read more

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the engine would misfire before running smoothly. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but became recurring failure. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The ma... Read more

Incident date: Nov 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stopped, turn the vehicle off, and then opened the door to reset the system. The contact restarted the vehicle and started to drive under 50 MPH to prevent the failure from reoccurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer seven times and di... Read more

Incident date: Dec 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while having an oil change by an independent mechanic, the contact was informed there was a leak in the engine compartment. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The loc... Read more

Incident date: Nov 23, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle overheated, and the contact was able to pull over. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to b... Read more

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, he heard an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine compartment, and the vehicle was idling rough. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the cam timing phasers. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact relat... Read more

Incident date: Nov 24, 2023

I have a 2018 ford fusion 2.0L ecoboost with around 77k miles and started to see coolant loss with no visible signs in engine bay or below.car, rough start with error P0316 and occasional misfire. White smoke comes from exhaust on start sometimes. Also have to fill coolant every other day or so. It looks as coolant intrusion issue very common with these engines.

Incident date: Oct 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle after several attempts, the contact checked the engine and checked the oil level and found that the oil was extremely low. The contact added 3-quarts of oil and was able to start the vehicle. The contact observed that the vehicle would intermittently lose power and nearly stalled. The contact became aware ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge began to indicate that the vehicle was overheating, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the coolant reservoir was abnormally low and refilled the reservoir... Read more

Incident date: Dec 8, 2023

The contact’s daughter in-law owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the Low Oil message was displayed, and the engine shifted into "LIMP Mood" reducing the speed of the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the oil pump had failed causing permanent damage to the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not ye... Read more

Incident date: Apr 6, 2022

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his wife was driving 40 MPH, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the heater hose. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who then determin... Read more

Incident date: Dec 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that on the initial start-up of the vehicle, the vehicle was shuddering. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact coasted to the side of the road and after several attempts was able to regain functionality of the vehicle. The failure was persistent. There were no warning lights i... Read more

Incident date: Nov 22, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Land Rover LR4. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the low coolant warning light illuminated, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed coolant covering the entire engine compartment. The check engine warning light was also illuminated. The v... Read more

Incident date: Aug 23, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, he observed a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the knocking lasted for approximately three to four seconds and then disappeared. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the cam phasers needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manu... Read more

Incident date: Dec 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating, and the vehicle briefly shuddered. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed failures with the head gasket and turbo charger. The vehicle was not repaired. The manuf... Read more

Incident date: Nov 17, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to accelerate while driving uphill. Additionally, the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the catalytic converter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. While driving approximately 3... Read more

Incident date: Dec 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that coolant was leaking into the engine. Additionally, the brakes were firm while being depressed. The contact stated that the battery was replaced. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The contact stated that th... Read more

Incident date: Dec 7, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission and the engine had failed, and both needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in N... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated while the vehicle was idling. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the pump was leaking. The mechanic stated that the engine block was running rich. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacture... Read more

Incident date: Dec 7, 2023

The contact's company owns a 2018 Ford Transit. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the tow company mechanic, where it was diagnosed that coolant intrusion in the engine had caused the engine to seize. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and info... Read more

Incident date: Oct 20, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was driving rough and would not properly accelerate with the odor of coolant present inside the vehicle. The contact diagnosed the vehicle with a misfire due to coolant leaking into cylinder #4. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer and ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the message "High Temperature - Stop Engine" was displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle temporarily. The contact stated that she restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the deal... Read more

Incident date: Dec 3, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys, where it was diagnosed and determined that the EVAP system was leaking. The vehicle was not repaired. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred th... Read more

Incident date: Dec 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, he became aware that the heater was not working. The contact later checked under the hood and observed that the coolant reservoir was empty. The contact refilled the coolant reservoir and checked for any leaks or puddles of coolant underneath the vehicle but found no evidence of a coolant leak. The contact... Read more

Incident date: Dec 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 BMW 430I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low coolant level warning light illuminated on the instrument panel, prompting the contact to refill the coolant reservoir. However, within two weeks, the failure reoccurred. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed an abnormally low coolant level. The vehicle was t... Read more

Incident date: Apr 26, 2022

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving approximately 3 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and failed to restart. The contact stated that prior to the vehicle stalling, an unknown warning light had flashed on the instrument panel. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was of... Read more

Incident date: Nov 18, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the engine seized. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that there was metal in the intake and exhaust cam shaft. There were metal shavings i... Read more

Incident date: Dec 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the power steering and power brake functionality were still operable. The contact pulled the vehicle over and attempted to restart the vehicle however, after several attempts he stopped. The contact stated no warning light was ill... Read more

Incident date: Jul 11, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to shake violently with white smoke coming from the exhaust. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion had damaged the long block, requiring a replacement of the engine. After investigating the failure... Read more

Incident date: Oct 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was later driven to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the failure was related to an emissions failure. No further information was provided. The contact stated that the vehicle had stalled on multiple occasions. The manufacture... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that there was an abnormal rattling sound while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was driven to the dealer however, the failure was not duplicated. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sound that was intermittent but beca... Read more

Incident date: May 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, there was a delay before the vehicle would operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the fuel pump and the sensor crank shaft tone wheel. The failure reoccurred and became a persistent failure. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel Syst... Read more

Incident date: Nov 2, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated. The contact inspected the oil level and noticed that the oil level was normal. The vehicle was towed to several independent mechanics to be diagnosed. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that an unknown belt had fractured, which led to t... Read more

Incident date: Nov 14, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact observed that the temperature gauge was indicating that the engine was overheating. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was losing motive power and was able to p... Read more

Incident date: Nov 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Acura MDX. The contact was notified by a relative of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair... Read more

Incident date: Nov 23, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle eventually stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that coolant was present inside the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle was driving rough. The contact stated that the vehicle was overheating. The contact noticed white smoke coming from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the short block. The ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the vehicle was overheating, and the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, and it was determined that the engine block had cracked due to coolant intrusi... Read more

Incident date: Nov 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was a coolant odor coming into the cabin while the vehicle idling or running. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that there was coolant leaking into cylinders #1 and #3. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehi... Read more

Incident date: Nov 29, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil pressure waring light illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The contact was info... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a misfire in cylinder #2 caused by coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the fail... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a rough start. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where DTC Code: P0301 was retrieved. The dealer determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Ford Campaign Number: 19-2208. The manufact... Read more

Incident date: Aug 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated. The contact continued driving; however, the vehicle started making an abnormal knocking sound while approaching her residence. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle was idling rough. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering and nearly stalled. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal the vehicle hesitated before driving forward. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the f... Read more

Incident date: Nov 22, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge started to indicate that the engine was overheating. The ABS and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (... Read more

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

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